African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) can detect dimethyl sulphide, a prey-related odour
African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) can detect dimethyl sulphide, a prey-related odour
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DOI：
10.1242/jeb.018325
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发表时间：
2008-10-01
影响因子：
2.8
通讯作者：
Ryan, Peter G.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Cunningham, Gregory B.;Strauss, Venessa;Ryan, Peter G.
虽然已经确定某些原细胞型海鸟使用气味线索来寻找猎物，但尚不清楚企鹅是否使用嗅觉线索来觅食。人们通常认为企鹅缺乏嗅觉，但它们与原胞形类密切相关，并在与许多原胞形类相似的区域以类似类型的猎物为食。这些区域的特点是含有大量的二甲基硫（DMS），这是一种有气味的化合物，许多海洋动物利用它来确定觅食地。如果企鹅可以闻到，DMS可能是一种生物相关的气味化合物，它们可能在自然界中敏感。为了验证这一假设，我们研究了成年非洲企鹅（Spheniscus demersus）是否可以检测DMS使用两个单独的实验。我们在南非罗本岛测试了野生企鹅，通过在殖民地部署μ molar DMS溶液，发现鸟类减慢了行走速度。我们还在Y型迷宫中测试了圈养的企鹅。在这两种情况下，我们的数据令人信服地表明，非洲企鹅有一个功能性的嗅觉，并被吸引到DMS。这项工作的意义是，气味景观（DMS）的变化检测可能有助于企鹅在确定生产领域的海洋觅食。需要进行海上研究，进一步调查这一问题。
Although it is well established that certain procellariiform seabirds use odour cues to find prey, it is not clear whether penguins use olfactory cues to forage. It is commonly assumed that penguins lack a sense of smell, yet they are closely related to procellariiforms and forage on similar types of prey in similar areas to many procellariiforms. Such regions are characterized by having high levels of dimethyl sulphide (DMS) a scented compound that many marine animals use to locate foraging grounds. If penguins can smell, DMS may be a biologically relevant scented compound that they may be sensitive to in nature. To test this hypothesis, we investigated whether adult African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) could detect DMS using two separate experiments. We tested wild penguins on Robben Island, South Africa, by deploying mu molar DMS solutions in the colonies, and found that birds slowed down their walking speeds. We also tested captive penguins in a Y-maze. In both cases, our data convincingly demonstrate that African penguins have a functioning sense of smell and are attracted to DMS. The implication of this work is that the detection of changes in the odour landscape (DMS) may assist penguins in identifying productive areas of the ocean for foraging. At-sea studies are needed to investigate this issue further.